City Solicitor

Allentown Mayor Joseph S. Daddona warned City Council last night that if it adopts an ordinance stripping a mayor of his power to appoint a city solicitor, "I will ignore it. I'll have to take it to the highest court in the land to protect the rights of the people." And based on council members' response, that might just happen. Council's administrative committee voted to recommend passage of legislation that would require the reappointment of a city solicitor to get council approval.

Bethlehem Fire Chief Robert Novatnack said investigators continue to look into the cause of Sunday morning's fire at the Leeson law offices , but have not yet determined a cause. He said the call for the fire at 68-70 E. Broad St. came in at 8:18 a.m. Sunday and crews arrived to find a fire already consuming part of the buildings. Firefighters knocked it down quickly and prevented it from spreading to neighboring properties, Novatnack said. He did not have a dollar amount for the losses, but said part of one roof collapsed and it would be "weeks, if not months" to repair the building so it could be used.

Bethlehem assistant city solicitor J. Stephen Kreglow has resigned, Mayor Ken Smith confirmed yesterday. "He's resigned effective the first of the year," Smith said shortly after being sworn in to his new term as mayor. "His law firm is merging with another (firm) and . . . he feels he won't have the time to devote to the city job." Smith said he would accept Kreglow's resignation "with regret, obviously, cause I think he's a very talented guy." No replacement has been chosen, the mayor said, and added that he would leave that decision to city solicitor Constantine Vasiliadis, who selected Kreglow two years ago with Smith's consent.

William Leeson and his brother, Joseph Jr., watched from the street Sunday morning as fire swept through two restored 19th century buildings that housed the law offices their father founded and hoped his boys would one day join. Fire crews arrived about 8:30 a.m. to battle the three-alarm blaze, which forced firefighters to evacuate the charred, white-sided building at 68 E. Broad St. moments before the roof collapsed about 10:30 a.m. The fire, which also damaged red-brick building at 70 E. Broad St., sent a plume of white and gray smoke into the sky that could be seen miles away.

A familiar family name will return to help provide legal advice for Bethlehem next year when City Council taps Joseph F. Leeson Jr. as its new solicitor. Leeson will replace outgoing Solicitor John M. Morganelli, who will be sworn in next month as Northampton County District Attorney. Leeson's father, the late Joseph Sr., served as city solicitor in Bethlehem under Mayor Paul M. Marcincin from 1978 to 1987, and was a key figure in the Marcincin administration. A partner in the city law firm Leeson, Leeson & Leeson, the younger Leeson graduated from Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales and Catholic University Law School.

If there is a conflict of interest in the Allentown solicitor's office, the city's ethics commission or the state should be the first to investigate, City Council members said yesterday. In a 4-3 vote, council defeated Councilwoman Emma D. Tropiano's second request to investigate what she alleges are conflicts of interest involving city solicitor Thomas Anewalt. "Did you ever contact the state Ethics Commission?" asked Council President Ernest E. Toth, who dissented. "I thought maybe we could save that money by getting a ruling from them."

Former Allentown Mayor Joseph S. Daddona's parting gift of $13,571 to himself was illegal, according to an opinion issued Thursday by the city solicitor's office. Members of Allentown City Council and the administration are clamoring to have the money returned, but Daddona says the money's his for keeps. "We need that money back," said Councilwoman Emma Tropiano. "That's a lot of money to let go out the doors. You have to think of the taxpayers," Tropiano said. The looming fight over Daddona's windfall comes as Allentown grapples with budget cuts.

Mayor William L. Heydt on Tuesday nominated Robert P. Daday to be Allentown's city solicitor. If approved by City Council, Daday would replace James Martin, who resigned in January to become Lehigh County district attorney. Heydt said he interviewed seven candidates for the post but settled on Daday because he wanted someone who had more time than previous solicitors had to devote to the job. Although the position pays $38,657 a year, the job is considered part-time. "All (the candidates)

Michael Combs, who was fired Jan. 28 as executive assistant to state Sen. Guy M. Kratzer of Allentown, will return to active duty as a city patrolman Tuesday. "I look forward to returning," said the eight-year veteran, whose return to the force was questioned by James P. Ritter, police civil service board president and city lobbyist. "I had raised the issue (with the city's law department) that I thought the top three names on the (police eligibility) list should be considered for the next available opening," said Ritter in a brief telephone interview yesterday.

Bethlehem Mayor Ken Smith would rather hire an extra assistant city solicitor than retain the attorney for City Council position he recommended for deletion in the 1990 proposed budget. Smith's $28 million spending plan for next year specifies a 1.75-mill property tax increase and deletes $13,838 in funding for council's solicitor, a position created in March 1986 and funded each year since. Smith and city solicitor Constantine Vasiliadis said the position, occupied by Bethlehem attorney John M. Morganelli, was recommended for deletion because no such job is specified in the 3rd Class City Code, the body of state law that governs operations for cities of Bethlehem's size.

When private developers create a public riverwalk along the Lehigh River, who maintains it? That's just one of the questions raised by Allentown planners as developers Mark Jaindl and Dunn Twiggar Co. move forward with a $250 million mixed-use proposal for the city's riverfront. That plan - which includes 10 buildings housing 610,000 square feet of offices, 130,000 square feet of retail and 172 apartments - faces a vote for tentative approval by the city's Planning Commission, the second of three approvals needed before construction can begin.

By Emily Opilo, Of The Morning Call and By Emily Opilo, Of The Morning Call | May 28, 2013

An Allentown City Council committee tabled a vote on a proposed ballot initiative drafted in response to a waste-to-energy plant slated to be built in the city after concerns were raised by local and state officials about the legality of the plan. In a confidential legal opinion distributed to members of council late last week and obtained by The Morning Call, the city solicitor's office said the proposed ballot initiative would open the city to a lawsuit. The initiative, which was placed on city council's agenda after more than 2,000 signatures were gathered, would create an ordinance that would require real time monitoring of pollutants at "new air polluting facilities" and mandate live disclosure of the emissions data on a public website.

Bethlehem City Council on Tuesday approved the appointment of Joseph Kelly, who has been assistant city solicitor for six years, as the new head of the community and economic development department. Kelly replaces Tony Hanna, who had been the department's public face for the last 11 years, and attorney Christopher Cooper will take Kelly's place as an assistant solicitor. Hanna is the new director of the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority and will have a working relationship with Kelly.

While the attorney for a Bethlehem police officer fighting to keep his job argued termination is not a fair punishment, the city solicitor said Wednesday that officer John Nye is a target for future lawsuits. Council's third hearing on Nye, who was suspended without pay in June, went late into the night. No decision was expected to be announced. At previous hearings, police officials said Nye should be fired because he ignored his commissioner's order not to contact another officer involved in an internal investigation after a March 8 pursuit and crash.

Christopher Baxter and Tom De Martini and Of The Morning Call | May 11, 2010

Wilson Borough officials waded into a hot statewide debate about gun control Monday by passing an ordinance that requires residents to report lost or stolen firearms to police within 72 hours. The ordinance is designed to curb people from legally purchasing multiple registered guns, illegally selling them on the street and later claiming to police that the gun was lost or stolen. "Someone can just go get guns for anyone," Council President Leonard Feinberg said. "These guns just get passed off."

Allentown is suing The Morning Call, reporter Jarrett Renshaw and the state Office of Open Records, claiming the agency improperly ruled on Renshaw's request under the year-old Right-to-Know Law for the official e-mails and schedules of Mayor Ed Pawlowski and other administration officials. City solicitor Jerry A. Snyder filed the complaint Thursday in Lehigh County Court after the agency issued a decision partly in the city's favor. In that Jan. 15 ruling, the agency agreed to review its initial decisions on Renshaw's request, but denied Allentown's demands for a new hearing or the recusal of the hearing officer.

Allentown City Council took one tortured step toward changing the city's form of government from strong mayor to council-manager Wednesday night, but it may be for naught. Four members of council voted in favor of a ballot question to put before voters in November -- enough for a majority, but not enough to override a like veto by Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach, according to Councilman Louis J. Hershman, who supported the question. Meanwhile, a longstanding feud between council and the mayor over labor contracts with the city's police and fire unions died quietly as council twice voted 4-2 to end legal appeals of arbitrators' awards.

An Allentown attorney with nearly 30 years of legal experience in Lehigh County has been chosen by Mayor-elect Roy C. Afflerbach to be the city's next solicitor. Robert W. Brown, 59, a senior partner in Brown, Brown, Solt & Feretti, was announced as Afflerbach's choice in a news release issued Thursday. His appointment is subject to approval of City Council. "I have known Bob for more than 20 years," Afflerbach said in his release. "We have worked together on various issues and I know that he and I share a similar vision for our city.

Because Bethlehem Councilman Michael Schweder decided not to run for office again, voters are assured of electing at least one new face to council in Tuesday's primary. Three Democratic challengers -- David DiGiacinto, Eric Evans and Michael Recchiuti -- have lined up to win Schweder's seat or knock off one of the incumbents. Council members Jean Belinski, Karen Dolan and Joseph Leeson Jr. will be defending their seats. With no Republicans running for the four spots on the ballot, the Democratic primary probably will decide who joins council next year unless write-in candidates emerge.